ICAO reports sluggish cargo market for 2013

By Catie Fry |Tuesday, December 17, 2013

In 2013, global air cargo traffic increased just one percent, the equivalent of about 51 million tons of freight carried, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
In addition, ICAO reports that the Asia/Pacific region is still the world’s largest air transport market based on this year’s numbers, with a 31-percent share of total traffic, representing an increase of 7.2 percent over 2012.
Despite an improvement in the economic climates in Europe and North America, the traffic of the European and North American airlines increased less than the world average, ICAO found, increasing by 3.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
The Middle East remained the region with the fastest air cargo traffic growth in 2013 compared to 2012, accounting for 12 percent of global cargo activity.